He’s lamenting the chronic shortage of real guitar rock and roll afflicting this ever fracturing planet, so ex-Radio Birdman, Hitmen, New Christs and Screaming Tribesmen guitarist Chris Masuak is returning to Australia to do something about it. Chris Masuak’s Dog Soldier will play shows in New South Wales, Queensland and Canberra in November on the back of a new album.

It’s been more than two years since Masuak left his adopted home of Spain and came back to his longtime old stamping ground of Australia but he hasn’t been idle. As well as gigging through Europe, he’s released an EP with his main Spanish band, Los Revelators, and a swansong single with his other Spanish band, The Viveiro Wave Riders (on US label Savage Magic).

For the first time in 25 years, seminal Sydney underground rock´n´roll band Asteroid B612 will light up Australian skies with a select run of shows in November. The gigs will the band’s first chance to present their new album “Roads, Stars”, out now on vinyl LP and CD and via all streaming platforms.

Asteroid B612 came hurtling out of Sydney´s Northern Beaches in the early 90´s and was a guitar-powered force of nature, recording five albums and playing endless tours throughout Australia and once across the USA.

The core of the band - schoolyard buddies Johnny Spittles aka Johnny Casino, singer Grant McIver and drummer Benny Fox - were brought up on a musical diet of heartfelt, soulful, blazing rock´n´roll.

Dissembling in 2002, they reunited for eight concerts in 10 days through Johnny Casino's adopted home of Spain with an Australo-Spanish lineup. This is where the idea of recording new music was hatched.

It’s a slightly re-tooled version of the band with the 2022 passing of bassist Scotty Nash. Tickets go on sale from venue outlets at 0900 (AEST) today.

Asteroid B612
Australian Tour
NOV
6 – La La La´s – Wollongong NSW
7 – Marrickville Bowling Club – Sydney NSW
8 – Avalon Beach RSL Club – Northern Beaches NSW
14 - The John Curtin Hotel – Carlton Melbourne VIC

Following on from last year’s debut EP, “Jails, Death & Institutions” (Crankinhaus Records), Van Ruin has rapidly upped the ante with their first album, ‘Trauma Magnet” ahead of their first European tour in September 2025. “Trauma Magnet” unveils a cast of characters whose fallible traits play out against a backdrop of high-energy rock and roll and hook-laden songs.

The members of Van Ruin's history in Australian rock is pretty vast - they've been a part of crucial acts like the New Christs, Lime Spiders, Deniz Tek Group, The Visitors, ME262, Decline of the Reptiles and Chris Massuak’s Dog Soldier, as well as East Coast Low, Hell Crab City, Chickenstones, Loose Pills, The Panadolls and Aberration. 

Van Ruin are Phil Van Rooyen - Vocals/Guitar, Alan Creed - Guitar/Vocals/Keyboards, Andy Newman - Bass/Keyboards and Stuart Wilson - Drums/Vocals

“Trauma Magnet” is being released on vinyl, CD and streaming and you can pre-order on Bandcamp or the label site, or pre-save.

Yoshiko, lead singer of Japan's 5.6.7.8's, is coming to Sydney to perform a solo performance for the first time at the intimate MoshPit Bar in St Peters on Sunday, September 14.

The gig went on sale today and is already cruising towards a sell-out so expect no tickets on the door. Grab a pre-sale one here or miss out. Doors open at 3.30pm.

With a sell-out tour of Australia in March with the 5.6.7.8's under her belt, Yoshiko is going to be belting out a completely different set of Japanese floor shakers and rockin' garage tunes.

She’ll be previewing a record she’s recording with her Sydney backing band, Cheetah Beat, purveyors of “sleazy surf and sinful serenades”. Cheetah Beat are coming in hot after their recent sell-out show at The MoshPit in July.

They’ll be joined by Jupiter 5, stalwarts of ‘60s and ‘70's rock'n'roll with brute force and grooviness. Dirtbag will open the shindig fresh from his appearance at the renown Wild Weekend festival in Spain with his primal one-man band racket.

Sydney musician Dan “Dunhill” Batchelor has hit hard medical times and bandmates have opened a GoFundMe campaign.

A co-founder of The Dunhill Blues, the band described as “Sydney's best B-grade garage-punk rock party outfit” (plus a few others), Dan recently kicked both cancer and an auto-immune disease to make a full return to work, gigs and family life.

Last month, he was hit by meningitis on a trip to Greece for partner Ves's significant birthday. He was treated in an Athens hospital and deemed fit to fly home.

“After receiving further treatment back home, Dan was well enough to return to his job... until The Big Setback,” explains bandmate Adam Dunhill.

“Last week, Dan was at work when he noticed his vision was blurred. He called Ves to pick him up, which she did... and took him straight to hospital for emergency treatment.

“Turns out, a rare complication of meningitis is blindness due to brain or optic nerve damage. The medicos reckon Dan was three hours away from total blindness, so it's very lucky Ves called it the way she did.

“Dan now has permanent damage in one eye, and is still in hospital being treated to prevent total vision impairment. It's heavy. And yeah... while this gives Dan time to work on his new blues guitarist name (and rest and recover, of course), the reality is this: the latest medical episode has emptied Dan and Ves's emergency fund.”

You’ll find the GoFundMe launched by The Dunhill Blues. Link and Pin Café and record label Outtaspace Presents here.